Movie Review: Rathnam

 Paneerselvam ( Samuthirakani) earlier a petty criminal enters politics as an MLA in Vellore. His protege Rathnam ( Vishal ) who has a strong violent streak helps him in activities when people are wronged. They have a strong bond since as a boy he had killed Paneeselvam's enemy and gone to jail. Murthy ( Yogi Babu ) works in Paneerselvam's bar and is Rathnam's friend.

Meanwhile 3 villains called the Rayudu brothers  are wreaking havoc as land grabbers in the Andhra -TN border areas.

In this scenario,  Mallika ( Priya Bhavani Shankar) a nurse aspiring to be a doctor, enters Rathnam's  life and thereby hangs  a tale. He is drawn to her but doesnt quite know why.

Rathnam learns that Rayudu's land grabbing dangerous goons are after her life because of her family land in Andhra which they have grabbed. Rathnam wows to protect her at all costs. 

What happens next ? Does Rathnam manage to fulfil his vow to protect Mallika? What is the history of the Rayudu brothers? Why are they hell bent on killing Mallika? 

The film starts off at a racy pace and the streak continues all through but giving enough breathing  time for events abd emotions  to sink in, which is a plus.

Devi Sri Prasad's peppy and apt bgm elevates the proceedings especially in the action scenes while his songs are  a mix of  foot -tapping and melodious tracks with  good visuals by Sukumar, elevating  the  effect on screen.

Sukumar's color play with certain color tones and palettes add to the viewing experience.

 The stunt choreographers have gone all out to give their best and the effort not only shows on screen but also creates impact. From throwing a bus off a cliff, to gun and knife fights, hand to hand combat to car and heavy vehicle chases, the range is large and action lovers will not be disappointed. The stunt scenes are certainly  rivetting, grippingly choreographed and mounted on a grand scale.

But, the violence is gory with dead body parts strewn around, chopping of fingers, hands, ears,  and gruesome blood-letting in places, certainly not for the faint-hearted. It does make one wish that senior directors could avoid such gory scenes with details even though they seem to be a trend nowadays. The gory violence is best avoidable by kids.

Also, too many fights, with Vishal taking on a dozen or more baddies at a time,  not only seem repetitive but also take up screen time. A bit of editing of stunt and humor scenes could have worked in the film's favour and enhanced the impact of other scenes.

 Vishal fits the bill to the T as action hero in full on hi-octane mode, his tall frame, expressions, body language and dialogues dominating the screen with a splendid performance. He shines in the emotional scenes just as in the action sequences. He stays true to the character till the end,  with quite a different  performance from his usual ones. 

The pairing with Priya Bhavani Shankar works well with an intriguing intro scene between the duo. Both leads do full justice with a dignified, layered and measured performance, in keeping with the way their characters are written, with a twist in the tale. Priya holds up the tinge of romance and holds up the delicate balance of emotions very well. 

Yogi Babu can be seen in different avatar even  and even shaking a leg in the peppy Dont Worry number. But apart from that the humor elements dont really work much.

The cross border interactions and tensions add to the narrative.

Though the film is an action entertainer, the  emotional scenes strike a chord. 

 Watch out for brief guest appearances by Gautham Vasudev Menon, VTV Ganesh amongst others.

However at 156 minutes the film does seems engthy though the racy pace tries to ensure there is never a dull moment. However, there are some elements in the narrative  that seem tough to swallow.

Overall, Rathnam,  an action entertainer with family drama and sentiment, solid, mature performances by the leads and supporting cast, rivetting, hi-octane stunts and chases, good music and camerawork, lavish mounting, detailing of characters, ample suspense and twists with  loose ends tied up in the end. 

Rating 3/5

CAST

Vishal - Rathnam

Priya Bhavani Shankar - Mallika

Samuthrakani - Panneer selvam

Vijaya kumar

Delhi Ganesh - Neelakandan

Yogi Babu - Moorthy

Gowtham Vasudev Menon - Anbalagan

Jayaprakash - Vedha Nayagam

Murali Sarma - Beema Rayudu

Harish Peradi - Subba Rayudu

Muthu Kumar- Ragava Rayudu

"Naan kadavul" Rajendran- Thiruthani Magesh

GajaRaj

VTV Ganesh

Y.G. Mahendran

MohanRam

C. Ranganathan

Ganesh Venkatram

'Kumki " Aswin

Anjali Devi

Thulasi

CREW

Story, Screenplay, Dialogue and Direction - Hari

Music - Devi Sri Prasad

DOP - M Sukumar

Stunt - Kanal Kannan, Peter Hein, Dhilip Subbrayan, Vicky

Lyric - Viveka

Art Director - P V Balaji

Editor - T S Jay

Choreographer - Dinesh

Special Effect - Sethu

Production Executive - Rajendran

Production Controller - P.S.Ganesh

Executive Producer : Ashok Narayanan M

Associate Producer : Pavan Narendra

Co Produced by : Kalyan Subramaniam , Alankar Pandian (Invenio Origin)

Produced by : Kaarthekeyen Santhanam, Zee Studios

Production Banner: Stone Bench Films & Zee Studios

Audio on Aditya Music

PRO : Nikil Murukan (Tamil)